What does the heart of an organisation look like?
1st July 2010
Does your team get together for coffee? Does someone enhance the experience by taking all the calls? Does someone else bring in little edible treats? Do you talk about your interests or maybe what you saw on the TV last night? It is part of what makes one particular office a nice place to work? This in itself is some evidence of group ‘heart’, because it does not seem to matter how busy the team is, it is always the same ritual. Do you think if you left and popped back to visit they will all be there, gathered by the same desk, doing the crossroad, chatting merrily? Yet, as you look around, the whole team is new, not one of the people you used to work with is present. Yet the ritual was identical.
In our age, activities for nurturing relationships are often frowned upon. How often do you as a leader feel uncomfortable when the team are just together talking and drinking coffee? Do you think – they need to get on? We need to add the Tao of followership high up on our list of priorities for nurturing the ‘heart’ of your business.
Therefore the Master remains
serene in the midst of sorrow.
Evil cannot enter his heart.
Because he has given up helping,
he is people’s greatest help.
True words seem paradoxical.
‘Tao Te Ching - the Book of the Way’
Translated by Stephen Mitchell, paperback, published by Kyle Cathie.
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